This is What Ozempic Face Looks Like | Facial Wasting After Rapid Weight Loss | Mounjaro | Wegovy

Ozempic Face

Got Ozempic face? If you are anything like me, the pros of maintaining a healthy weight and BMI are worth the possibly deleterious influence on your facial appearance. Sure, you can regain your weight and Ozempic face may be cured. But that’s not ideal for most, either. If Ozempic-related facial changes are unacceptable to you, and you intend to keep your weight stable, know that these changes are correctable. Fortunately, plastic surgeons have been treating aging and deflated faces for years. The “lift and fill” facelift relies on both skin tightening and volumization with your own fat to both correct volume related changes and age-related skin laxity. Of course, fat transfer becomes a special consideration in patients who lose weight rapidly with medications like Ozempic. For example, what happens if you regain the weight that was lost with medication? Fat transfer is a tried-and-true cornerstone of my facelift practice, but that assumes that weight has been and will remain stable in patients who undergo fat transfer.

When weight fluctuations are anticipated, alternatives to fat transfer including hyaluronic acid fillers, Sculptra, facial implants, or avoiding line position altogether may be considered. Another special consideration is nutritional status in patients undergoing rapid weight loss. As with any elective cosmetic procedure, weight stability and nutritional status must be confirmed to ensure adequate reserves for healing and recovery. Patients suffering from diarrhea and constipation may become orthostatic due to medication-mediated volume losses per rectum and warrant a thorough examination and workup prior to surgery. Because the buccal fat pad is probably spared, buccal fat pad removal may be safe and predictable in patients with Ozempic face.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Partly because of its widespread popularity is a weight loss drug, and recent popularization due to celebrity endorsements, semaglutide medications like Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Wegovy have fallen in short supply. They are very expensive medications due to the supply and demand phenomenon in the unavoidable economics of the health care industry. My own medication was prescribed and delivered in November 2022; at that time, I was unaware of low global availability. It is my understanding that metformin is not in short supply. Therefore, the real risks of these medications go beyond a gaunt facial appearance, premature facial aging, constipation and diarrhea. In contrast to what you may have heard, the global medication shortage is multifactorial and not entirely (or significantly) attributable to hoarding Hollywood elites. Still, do please note that you may be taking medication from those who need it most.